Father Quits $2 Trillion Firm After 10-Year Daughter Notes That He Missed 22 Landmark Events In Her Life

A top international financier quit his job running a $2 trillion investment fund after his daughter wrote him a note complaining he had missed her first day of school, her Halloween parade and her first game of soccer.

Mohamed El-Erian's daughter wrote him a note complaining that he had missed out on 22 landmarks in her life because he was too busy at work.

The California based investment guru resigned from Pimco, who have more than $2 trillion invested, after his daughter sent him a note outlining 22 milestones he had missed from her life. 

After receiving the letter from the 10-year-old, El-Erian handed in his notice which was a shock to the investment world. 

In an interview with Worth, El-Erian explained his decision.

He said, 'About a year ago, I asked my daughter several times to do something—brush her teeth, I think it was—with no success. I reminded her that it was not so long ago that she would have immediately responded, and I wouldn’t have had to ask her multiple times; she would have known from my tone of voice that I was serious.

'She asked me to wait a minute, went to her room and came back with a piece of paper. It was a list that she had compiled of her important events and activities that I had missed due to work commitments.Talk about a wake-up call. 

'The list contained 22 items, from her first day at school and first soccer match of the season to a parent-teacher meeting and a Halloween parade. And the school year wasn’t yet over.I felt awful and got defensive: I had a good excuse for each missed event! Travel, important meetings, an urgent phone call, sudden to-do. 

'But it dawned on me that I was missing an infinitely more important point. As much as I could rationalize it—as I had rationalized it—my work-life balance had gotten way out of whack, and the imbalance was hurting my very special relationship with my daughter. I was not making nearly enough time for her.'

El-Erian said he was spending far too much time away from his home while working for PIMCO. 

Since resigning, he said he and his wife take turns in waking up their daughter, preparing her breakfast and bringing her to school. 

He said he is also planning a holiday just for the pair of them. 

El-Erian said instead of one, full-time position, he has taken a 'portfolio' of part-time roles which require far less travelling and allow him greater flexibility. 

He said that he even now had time to pick up his daughter from school.

Speaking to Bloomberg after his resignation, El-Erian said, ' I've gone through a transition after 14 great years with Pimco and I've put together a portfolio of part-time activities that I'm really excited about. I'm also really excited to spend more time with my family and my daughter.'

He later told Reuters, 'If I had known that there would be this media circus, I would've done a lot of things differently.

'Was there a way of not going 100 miles an hour and maybe going 50 miles an hour? To be perfectly honest, I didn't explore that option. I never explored.'

El-Erian said wanting to spend more time with his family is a cliche but he decided that his need to be a good father was greater than his desire to be a good investor.' 

He decided that he had to readjust his work-life balance in May 2013 after receiving the note from his daughter. 

In an interview with Reuters, El-Erian refused to comment on his former boss Bill Gross, only describing the 70-year-old as brilliant. 

Since leaving Pimco, El-Erian has become the chief economic adviser at Allianz where he spends 50 per cent of his time.